910 One To Go Members Episode Rewrite Story
by Home Of the GSR Addict
Summary: GSR - Of course! A re-write of the episode ending with a few extra twists thrown in by our terrific writers on the site.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** – We do not own CSI, Alliance Atlantis, Jerry Bruckhiemer, the CSI Franchise or any of the CSI cast what so ever, or anything else what so ever to do with them apart from our DVD collections and other memorabilia/merchandise. We only own our own fantasies and imaginations where CSI is concerned!

_**A/N -** All members who have contributed to this story will receive a mention/shout-out in the last chapter to be posted. This chapter has been beta'd by site member MyKate. Please R & R & Enjoy! Next post coming soon!_

**Members 9.10 Episode re-write **

Jim Brass "So you won't be leaving just yet, Gil"

Grissom sighed heavily as he rubbed a hand over his tired face "No, looks that way." There was a pause. Then, "I need to make a call, can you call the coroner for me Jim?"

"Sure. Do you want me to wait until David gets here?"

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go to the Denali and make my call," Gil sighed, as he closed his kit and stood up. "Looks like double and triple shifts until we have this latest sicko behind bars," he grumbled.

Grissom walked off towards the vehicle shouting over his shoulder, "I'll call the rest of the team out, too".

Brass flipped open his cell and hit speed dial #1 for the coroner's office.

Grissom started the engine to the Denali and turned on the A/C to escape the hot Vegas sun. He reached for his cell phone to call the rest of his team, and noticed he had one missed call.

His heart started to race as he realized the missed call was from Sara, so he moved to start dialing her number when suddenly his phone began to ring.

Seeing the unknown number displayed on his screen, Grissom tentatively answered with his usual businesslike tone.

"Grissom."

"Yeah, Raymond Langston. Did you manage to find anything from Haskell's details?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. A skeleton that has been buried for some years, and a male body with eleven stab wounds," Grissom replied.

A blip heard across Raymond's reply alerted Grissom to another incoming call. His heart skipped a beat as he hoped it would be Sara attempting another contact.

"I-I-I'll, uh, have to call you right back," Gil's voice choked out as he felt as if his anxiety was stifling his ability to breathe.

Without waiting for a response, he ended the call with an animated click before switching to the party line call waiting had kept connected.

"Grissom," was all he could weakly force out.

"Dr Gilbert Grissom?" a deep male English voice responded in question.

"Yes! Speaking" Grissom replied a little testily.

"Ah, at last! Hello, I'm Dr Spencer Frost, a fellow entomologist, who has been trying to reach you on behalf of the International Entomology Research and study foundation," Dr Frost replied tentatively.

"Oh? And why is that exactly, may I ask?" Grissom replied nonplussed, he was always getting these type of calls, and quite frankly he just wanted to end the call in case Sara called again.

"Dr. Grissom, I'll get right to the point. Your latest monograph on the correlation of environmental pollution to colony collapse disorder among Hymenoptera has the research community here humming...if you'll pardon the pun," the casual tone of the elder man's words easing some of Grissom's irritation.

With a short chuckle at the insider's joke, Gil responded easily, "Thanks, but it was just a ramble of documentations and observations - truly not worthy of much recognition," referring to his past scholarly postings that had earned him the elevated status he currently enjoyed in this branch of academia.

"Well, be that as it may, you probably also keep up with the latest entomological news too, so I'll get down to what I'm calling about. There are 3 new neotropical flower flies 'Diptera: Syrphidae that have been discovered in Costa Rica recently, and it's an exciting find by one of our colleagues," Dr. Frost spoke excitedly.

"Problem is we have no one of the caliber needed to research them who would be available for the next six months. They're all taken up with other research commitments. So basically we need some one sooner rather than later, to get right on with the study of them."

Spencer Frost cleared his throat slightly before adding, "Is there any possibility at all, Dr. Grissom, that you could undertake this research in the next month or so?" he asked almost breathlessly, crossing his fingers. It would be a major plus to get the famous Dr. Grissom on board this project.

Not wanting to appear rude, Grissom sighed.

"Look, Dr. Frost…could I get back to you? I'm at a crime scene right now, and I'm really unable to discuss this with you at the moment."

In truth, on any other given day, the possibility of doing field research in a rainforest area would send Gil's heart racing. Today, however, his heart was totally focused on the hope of a pretty young brunette trying once more to contact him.

"Yes, yes of course. Perhaps you'd like me to forward you the proposed prospectus for your review? Although time is of the essence, a few days would give you the opportunity to decide. We could make all the travel arrangements, visas, etc." Frost added hastily, hoping to make the proposition hard to resist.

Just then, a beep crossed the airwaves causing Gil to almost drop the device.

Acting quickly, Grissom spoke in a rush. "Okay, please do that. I'm terribly sorry, but I really must go now, I have an incoming call I need to answer. Goodbye." he said. With that, Gil found himself disconnecting the call right away without speaking further, or giving the man a chance to reply.

Flicking his thumb quickly to the button to answer the other call with a much softer, "Hey, I've been trying to get in touch with you" after he saw who the call was from on the caller display.

The sound of his voice momentarily erased the tiredness that had threatened to overwhelm her as it did her last few weeks as an active CSI.

Her hectic schedule of the last few weeks had been intensified by the rush to conclude their research in this tropical island rainforest before the approaching tropical storm erased the habitat of the endangered species of wildlife they were studying.

"Hi, this is gonna have to be quick. I'm sorry Gil, looks like we'll be out of touch for a while.. nothing to worry about" she hastened to add. "It's just we've a tropical storm heading our way and communication is the first to go," she laughed a little unsteadily.

"Robert assures me we'll be safe...as happy as clams in a clam bed," the snort of genuine amusement that accompanied this made him smile and he almost missed her next words.

"…I told him the only "Gill" I was interested in having with me in bed was you," her voice had dropped to that smoky tone that made his heart flip over. "Sorry, I'm babbling…" she said, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious.

"Sara," he breathed in response, hoping he could convey with words how he missed her as well.

Without warning, the connection started to crackle and threaten to cut out.

"Sara!.....You still there? Sara? Honey, can you hear me?" Gil called out, raising his voice anxiously.

A broken-"Gil...Yeah I'm still here, but for how much longer I don't know..."-came across the line in the usual intimate tone she shared with him alone.

"They're trying to work on the telecommunication and internet connection stuff, to secure them better before the storm hits," Sara said by way of explaining the cell line disruption.

"Honey, we think we have a complicated serial case on our hands at the lab. I'm not going to......." Gil's voice trailed off as he heard the phone connection signal a dead tone, indicating the line was now dead.

"Damn!" Gil seethed, looking at the now blank screen, before flipping it closed and throwing it angrily on to his dashboard, and sighing heavily.

He pinched the bridge of his nose tightly, fighting the pressure building behind his eyes that usually triggered the onset of a migraine.

_I've got to focus on breathing - slowly in, slowly out -_ he thought, a slight smile forming as he remembered how Sara would hold his hand while she'd coach him into the relaxing relief from the mind-numbing pain.

He recalled how she had searched the Internet for hours while he suffered during one particularly disabling episode.

His thoughts continued to ramble over that image of her triumphant smile which he'd caught as he winced painfully when the bedroom door opened admitting the brief harshness of afternoon sunlight.

_If Sara were here, she'd massage my neck and work out these tension knots...she'd make it better..._With a sigh, his head drooped mournfully. _She'd make it _all _better..._

A tap tap on the glass had him lifting his head "They're waiting for you."

Brass watched him as he continued to sit there for another moment, noting the strain around his eyes, obviously from the lack of sleep.

"You okay?" he asked and found Gil turning his head slowly in response.

"Yeah," he got out of the car slowly, "bit of a headache," he added as he headed out, slanting him a wry grin.

"You coming?" he asked playfully, eliciting a chuckle from his friend as he moved to join him.

Silently marveling that Grissom had actually admitted to a headache, Brass caught up with him, shaking his head slightly. Just when he thought he had this puzzle of a man all figured out, he'd always throw him a curve ball.

David had arrived, and after a brief look they had agreed to send the body back to the morgue for Al to further examine.

Grissom let a small sigh escape as he accompanied the body, leaving Nick in charge of the collecting of evidence at the scene...it was going to be a long day.

Walking into the morgue followed by Catherine, Gil could already see Al had carried out most of the autopsy as Gerald Toliver's chest cavity laid cracked wide open.

"You got a COD for us, Al?" Gil asked without greeting, eager to get on with the case at hand.

"Catherine, Gil," Al addressed them both, picking up a small broken bone to show them.

"Broken hyoid bone, classic strangulation. The ten deep penetrative stab wounds, as you suspected, were postmortem - no bleeding occurred," Al said putting the bone back down again.

"I hear your not leaving us quite yet, Gil," the doctor continued with a smirk in the entomologist's direction.

Grissom's head snapped up to pin the doctor with a cool stare.

Squaring his shoulders, he leaned over the body asking tersely, "Anything else?"

Gil's body language was screaming, "Let's just get this over with."

Al chanced a glance in Catherine's direction. Her eyes darted towards Grissom and then back to the doctor, her eyebrows raised in silent confusion as she shrugged.

------------------------------

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	2. Chapter 2

****

**Disclaimer** – We do not own CSI, Alliance Atlantis, Jerry Bruckhiemer, the CSI Franchise or any of the CSI cast what so ever, or anything else what so ever to do with them apart from our DVD collections and other memorabilia/merchandise. We only own our own fantasies and imaginations where CSI is concerned!

_**A/N -** All members who have contributed to this story will receive a mention/shout-out in the last chapter to be posted. This chapter has been beta'd by site member MyKate. Please R & R & Enjoy! Next post coming soon!_

_And for any of you who feel you'd like to try your hand at writing a bit of this, or any of our other members'- stories, please visit us at homeofthegsraddict dot com, or contact either RubixCSIPuzzle or MyKate for more information!_

**Members 9.10 Episode re-write Chapter 2**

It had been wonderful to hear his voice.

Leaving the makeshift communication center, Sara's mind flew back to the message she'd received just a few days ago...one simple line...

_**'I'm not ready to say goodbye'**_

She had cried like a baby.

Now, it seemed between the weather and his work she would be out of touch with Grissom a little longer.

Missing him as she did, Sara was glad she had so much to do in preparation of the storm.

But despite the workload, Sara still struggled to bury the negative thoughts voicing in the back of her head:

_"It's just another excuse, you know that." _

_"Once this case is done, there'll be another...always be another."_

She grimaced and breathed deep to shut the voice down fiercely, but deep within she _was_ afraid...her thoughts strayed to how they hadn't caught on to Natalie for over 9 months...

Late that night, falling into an exhausted sleep, Sara dreamt of Vegas...

_Grissom was counting dummies as they flew from the roof._

_Sara stood, a smile on her face, watching as he turned. Grinning, he took a few steps towards her, but more dummies continued to fall, separating them. _

_Frantic to reach him despite the rising pile of mannequins, Sara lifted her head to see Grissom was rushing among them, hissing cockroak jar in one hand and tweezers in the other._

_Suddenly rain was falling in torrents, so loud she could hardly hear Gil's happy shouts. "Did you see him, Sara? Wasn't he fast?. If I catch him, no one else will ever be King of the Roach Racing Champion again!"_

_The rains fell harder, until Grissom simply disappeared from her view with only his words drifting through the divide. She tried calling him, but her voice failed to work. She tried to twist and turn through the labyrinth of molded bodies, getting bogged down as she fought to reach Gil, to find him, her efforts failing, her voice strangled, her body falling, falling..._

She woke with a start to absolute silence, except for the pounding of the rain onto the tin roof that provided their shelter.

"The storm's here, Sara," Robert's voice came from across the room.

A lone escaping tear fell from her eye, as the last vestiges of her dream faded and she came back to reality.

Willing her heartrate to return to normal, Sara began rubbing her eyes, hiding the evidence of her distress.

Pulling herself to sit up, she spoke in a low, still sleep-laden voice, "Thank you, Rob. I'm getting up now and I'll help with any last minute things that need doing around here."

Sara then let out a long labored sigh as she threw back the covers and swung her legs out of the bed.

"No rush. Take your time, and _make sure_ you eat breakfast today, Sara," Robert said with a pointed look at her. He, along with some of the others on the trip, had noticed her poor appetite and eating habits enough to cause concern.

--------------

Meanwhile, sirens screamed as squad cars raced past him on the way to another scene, but Grissom barely acknowledged them as he gripped the wheel tighter.

Distracted by the maelstrom of his thoughts, Gil was on his way to meet Nick who had uncovered another possible lead to their current case.

**I'm not ready to say goodbye.**

The road became out of focus as Gil recalled the comfort he had taken when Sara had first spoken those words of comfort to him that night so long ago, when he had left the ICU after receiving the good news about Brass's improved prognosis following his near-fatal shooting. He recalled how he had invaded her space and pulled her tightly to himself. She had been his lifeline then. _Had been my lifeline always..._

**I'm not ready to say goodbye.**

His thoughts moved to the more recent night he had sent that reply to her emailed video.

Having sat alone for what had felt like mere minutes when the clock had actually continued to move past hours, Grissom had felt himself sink into the depth of despair as he watched Sara, _his_ Sara, speak those heartbreaking words:

_"Maybe its better this way...maybe it's_ definitely _better this way..."_

Reviewing that loop of the message for what seemed like the thousandth time, something snapped inside him.

Kicking his chair out furiously behind him, he had only taken two paces before his eyes fell upon the case files sitting on the edge of the desk.

_Work...for years, it was my life...and she understood...Sara always understood...and somehow, she was content to see herself as the second most important thing in my life..._

His anger boiled over, his hands flinging the files across the room, his tears bursting forth as his knees had buckled beneath him.

Gil Grissom, tower of strength, whose life was suddenly reduced to a pile of worthless rubble, was alone.

His tired eyes looked upwards at the frozen frame displayed on his computer's monitor.

_Sara...I'm sorry you never knew...you were _always_ the most important thing in my life...I'm nothing without you...and I'm not ready to say goodbye..._

The sudden blare from the impatient teen driver behind him signaled the change in the traffic light.

Forcing his mind back to the present and the case, he eased the car forward, mentally reviewing all the evidence they had collected to date.

He could see Dr. Langston definitely wanted to be involved, and a quick call to the sheriff had made it possible for him to be brought on board.

Grissom felt an affinity for the man, yet had no real reason why.

"Maybe," the thought danced in his head, ' Dr. Langston would be interested in a more permanent move to CSI?"

Shutting off his thoughts once again, he pulled up behind Nick.

Getting out of the car and putting on the straw hat that had so amused them all the first time he wore it, he crossed over to the waiting CSI.

"What you got, Nick?" Grissom asked as he walked up to the make shift mortuary tarped and taped off area at the scene he'd been at only a couple of hours previously.

"Al," he greeted as he came to a halt in front of a table that held various items of collected evidence.

"Apart from the body that's now back at the lab, and of course this," Nick began, indicating to another table that held a newly dug-up, laid out skeleton, "we don't have very much, except for some leads that Brass is following up on as we speak. But there still is the body to process yet," Nick concluded hopefully.

Just then, a squad car pulled up near the scene which caught Grissom's attention, making him turn to see Dr Langston exit out of the car.

Al looked up at the man approaching, then at his friend.

"So I see you called in a little extra help on this one, Gil" the coroner spoke with a slight smirk.

Getting the introductions quickly out of the way, Grissom looked up to see his CSI striding towards them.

Nick stated that he was now going back to the lab with some of the evidence to process, his desperation evident to find anything that could give them a possible further lead.

-----

Meanwhile, evacuation efforts were underway as the research team scrambled to pack their sensitive equipment onto the transport vehicles that planned to take them to the Sea Shepard and away from the danger of the approaching storm.

Sara had just brought the last parcel from her lab and was turning back towards their makeshift lab to help her colleagues when Robert appeared in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"We have to leave now, Sara," he yelled over the gust of wind and the pounding of the rain caused by the outer bands of the disturbance heading directly over their area.

"The files-" Sara started to protest, stress evident as she matched his tone. Robert's hands slid down to her upper arms, his grip accenting the urgency of his appeal.

Shaking his head, he interrupted her saying, "We need to leave _now_, Sara. The transport trucks are taking us inland to the Reserve instead, as it's too dangerous to try to reach the ship. It should take us several hours to reach it in this weather, if the roads remain passable."

They stood in the rain for another brief moment. Sara, processing these latest developments, stood lost in thought, concerned about Gil's worry for her as she remained unable to contact him.

Robert was also lost in thought, reveling in the feel of Sara in his grasp. It was becoming harder to struggle with his growing attraction to her. His eyes roved undetected for the briefest of moments as she stood a heartbeat away from him, soaked through to her skin in the unending assault of the warm precipitation.

"I guess that means now," Sara's voice snapping him back to the present. Robert's eyes locked onto the resigned grin that had suddenly appeared on her tired face.

With a long suffering sigh, Robert nodded and urged her ahead of him as they dashed out to the waiting truck.

"Hey you're all wet, Sara!" Judy, one of the younger volunteers, teased. "Did you really smell that bad, Sara? Or are you trying to tell us there will be no more showers for a while?"

"Uh, that would be _no_, I dont' expect we _will_ see any showers for a while, _or_ laundry facilities," Sara spoke evenly as she gave a playful shrug sitting purposely next to Judy. Her action caused the transferring of as much water as possible to fall on her unsuspecting crewmate, causing laughter all around.

"So, I'm conserving water and showering in my clothes," Sara added with a giggle.

More laughter greeted this and Robert found himself wishing that whoever the guy was who recently had made Sara so miserable and yet now so happy would just stay away and leave her alone to find her way without him in her life.

Robert had to concede that, perhaps, there would never have been a real chance for him in Sara's life, for either of them to see where their chemistry took them. All Robert could be sure of right now was the fact that since the weird one line message had come, Sara was balancing between utter joy and dark depression.

The night they had arrived at this travel point, Robert had quite by chance come upon Sara struggling with the nightmares like the one she had survived earlier. That was the reason he had begun taking to watching over her as she slept, a fact of which the other scientists on this expedition were unaware. He blamed Sara's "mystery man" for her pain.

As the truck departed the base camp for their rendevous point, Robert swore he'd have a few words to say to _that guy_ if they ever chanced to meet.

-------------

Now back at the lab, Grissom fought to overcome the tiredness that threatened to overtake him.

He and Catherine were sat in one of the labs, still frustratingly trying to get an ID on the soup-to-go decomp victim he'd investigated in that quiet, idealic setting.

The place he'd attended a little while earlier that had brought him a strong yearning of wanting to be somewhere else, far away from the harsh crimes and death of Vegas, holed up in some basic research facility with the one the person who he hoped was going to be his future.

"You still with me?" Catherine asked him with a soft friendly smile.

Grissom blinked... Trying to concentrate,his thoughts still on Sara's call.

"I'm sorry Catherine, where were we?"

Catherine gave Grissom's arm a squeeze.

"Gil, go home. Get some rest. You've already worked a triple. I'll give you a call if anything turns up."

He bit back an instinctive refusal, knowing he _was_ tired, way _too_ tired.

Plus, Hank had probably forgotten he even _had_ an owner, Gil feeling regretful as to how their mutt had been neglected since Sara's leaving.

Sighing, he nodded once.

"You're right. I'll head out."

Turning at the door, he added, "Make sure the rest of the guys take a break...we all need to be on top form for this one."

"Don't worry, Gil. We'll get you there..I promise," Catherine spoke with a knowing smile. She enjoyed the blank-faced look with which Gil responded; it wasn't often she could get one over on Grissom.

Refusing to acknowledge her comment he headed home, hoping to try and get some much needed sleep...and just as possibly try to place a call to Sara. The last call had been interrupted so abruptly he needed to know she was safe and assure her his remaining in Vegas was truly just a temporary setback.

He had every intention of being with her as soon as humanly possible. Already he was feeling that the calm which had washed over him when he finally accepted his need to go to her was beginning to unravel. He needed to see her, look into her eyes, take her in his arms - his need burned so greatly, it was like a palpable, physical ache in his heart.

On the drive to her own home, Catherine had called to inform him Soup Man had now been definitively identified by the coroner as Gerald Toliver, and that Nick and Greg were on there way over to the man's residence with a warrant

Al and David had also established the ID on the skeletal victim as the first victim of Haskell, as Joel Stiener. The male DB with the trademark stab wounds was identified as a Mr. Masters, whose wife Maureen was currently listed as missing. The evidence suggested that she probably was with the accomplice of Haskell.

Knowing he'd only manage to get himself a short nap, a quick shower, grab a bite to eat, and try to call Sara again before heading back to the lab, Grissom increased the pressure on the accelerator pedal in his attempt to get home and return a bit quicker. Putting his tasks in order, the call to Sara became his number one priority.

As he entered their home, dropping his things absently onto the coffee table, he picked up the cordless telephone to make the call on the land line.

A cheerful recorded voice informed him that they were unable to connect his call and to try again later.

Fighting down the instinct to throw the phone, Gil placed the receiver on the cradle and decided in favor of at least trying to sleep.

Laying down on his lonely bed, he was asleep almost instantly.

His dreams surfaced immediately, a confusing mix of Haskell and Sara and Dr. Langston all trying to call him at once, the men arguing over who should be first while Sara continued to disappear into the distance.

He awoke with a start as he groped wildly while calling her name.

Blinking to clear his sleep- filled eyes and peering at his watch, Gil collapsed back with a groan - he'd only managed two hours of sleep.

His body was still desperately tired, but his mind felt razor sharp. As he stumbled from the bed and stood under the hot shower, he became aware of a truth which his disturbing dream had revealed to him...just possibly how Haskell was communicating with his accomplice.

A quick call to the dog sitter to apologise and he was ready to get back to work.

He glanced at his lap top, knowing really couldn't spare the time to try to contact Sara again.

Heading back to the lab, Gil made a conscious decision to call Sara at the next available opportunity.

Driving towards the lab, he speed dialed the number, hoping to catch Dr. Langston; they would need his help for this.

------------------

The rain continued to pelt the canvas-covered transport vehicle as it dodged the widening rivulets of mud which were now threatening to erode the only safe travel path through this tropical quadrant.

The mood of the occupants in the transport was darkening in tandem to the skies. After their initial exchanges of good-natured teasing and gaiety died down, these scientists became increasingly concerned about the unrelenting storm.

Robert's weather radio continued to broadcast coastal weather updates, and the latest was far from encouraging.

There were murmured exchanges and wary looks among most of the passengers, but Robert was not aware of them. For some time since they had boarded, he found himself fixated on Sara.

He had tried to gain control of his thoughts, closing his eyes to redirect his focus. Upon opening them moments later, however, his heart sank as he watched her arms wrapped around herself - unquestionably in protective mode.

He fought against his instincts, denying himself the pleasure of feeling his arms wrapped around her for the second time today.

Quickly, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the tarp-covered sidewall, reining in his desire that had been released by their first brief physical contact.

His eyes flew opened seconds later, however, as his ears recorded the sickening crack. While his body was thrown off-balance, his arms instinctively reached out as he called frantically, "Sara!"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Our writers have finished another section of this tale...remember you are welcome to add a passage by visiting homeofthegsraddict dot com and clicking on the link on the homepage. This chapter was beta'd by site member MyKate. We look forward to your reviews of this developing story!

--------------

"I'm okay."

Sara worked herself around the chaos and unclasped Judy who had banged her head.

Robert was reached out to touch her, but she shook her head as she pushed passed him.

"Help Judy," she said as the horror of the last time she'd been in a car in torrential rain threatened to overwhelm her.

Getting out of the transport, Sara joined the others assessing the damage.

"Axle's gone, " Sara said quietly, and their heads turned to look at her.

"Hey, I know a few things about cars...alright?"

"How are we going to get to the station?" someone whispered, their worry masked by the persistent pounding of the rain.

Before she could answer, Robert joined them.

"We're going to walk..it's not _that_ far," he assured them.

"In this?" one of them asked trying to get his bearings.

"Yeah...if we stick to the tracks. The car radio is bust, but they _are_ expecting us...if we're lucky, we'll be met".

"And if we're not?" half-joked another.

"Then we'll be _very_ wet and tired when we get there!" Sara informed him.

They took it in turns to help Judy, and Sara reflected that at any other time the walk would have been breathtaking.

But as they soldiered on through rain, they could barely see the path through it.

It seemed to Sara that she'd done this before...only in oppressive desert heat...

A shout ahead made them all look up, snapping Sara's thoughts back to the present.

"We're here!" whooped one of the young guys. Sara was too exhausted to care who it had been.

Now suddenly, there were hands lifting the heavy packs from her back and several friendly voices urging them all out of the rain.

Sara was losing her battle with fatigue as she felt a sure and steady grip of raincoated arms around her waist and shoulders.

Instinctively turning towards the source of this support, her lonely mind flashed the one image that she had always associated with comfort.

"Grissom?" Sara murmured gazing into blue eyes that peered out from under the bulky rainhat.

"I'm Dr. Phillips," the woman smiled reassuringly, but Sara failed to process the information as her body had finally shut down.

Sheer mental and physical exhaustion, mixed with the knock to the head she'd received from the side support frame when the vehicle had suddenly lurched to the side on the hazardous track as the axle gave way, were now taking their consequences as Sara's world suddenly faded to black, and her body went limp.

"Hey! I need help over here! We've got an emergency!" yelled Dr Phillips through the din as the commotion from the noisy storm was bolstered by the numerous loud voices filling the area around the compound.

Robert was at her side kneeling down instantly.

"Let's get her to one of the bed in the dorms," he said as he put one hand under Sara's knees, the other around and under her shoulders, before quickly lifting her up close to his chest as he hurriedly followed Dr Phillips.

Robert was sent from the room as soon as he'd placed her on the bed.

"You can come back later when she's been assessed," an elderly nurse told him as she began to tend to her patient.

A moment later, she realized the tall figure had not moved from the doorway.

Her glance shifted from the patient to his worried eyes and back.

"Are you and she?" she asked kindly.

With a final look at Sara lying death-like on the bed, Robert turned his attention to the nurse and shook his head.

"No...I...We..We're just _friends_."

Moving towards him, she patted his hand comfortingly.

"Don't worry. Dr. Phillips is a _very_ good doctor".

Robert could only nod before backing out of the room.

Taking a deep, calming breath, he closed his eyes and squared his shoulders before moving down the hallway towards the exit doors.

As he reached out to push open the screened door, he twisted his head once more to gaze down the hallway before purposefully striding forward with such intensity that the screen door bounced several times before returning to rest in place.

He found himself very much in demand as soon as they had settled, organizing the distribution of people and work; whatever they could salvage and save had to be priority.

Robert was kept too busy to think about Sara, but when one of the radio operators came in asking for Sara, he went to the radio room instead.

"It's a Dr. Grissom on the line," he was told.

Taking a deep breath Robert switched the radio to send and spoke.

"Hello. This is Robert Crockett. I'm afraid Sara is unable to speak to you right now,"...

--------------

Some hours later Sara woke to a dim light.

Glancing around she frowned, trying to remember where she was and how she'd got there.

Her movements attracted the attention of Robert who had found his way back to sit with her after ending the phone call.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, taking her hand in his firm but gentle grip.

Sara's only response to Robert was a groggy smile.

Although she hated hospitals and was uncomfortable with having a fuss made over her, right now she was actually relieved to have someone here holding her hand.

The whole incident had resurrected buried memories of her desert crisis, and her anxiety level now mirrored her state in the days following that ordeal.

Robert clung to Sara's hand protectively, unconsciously rubbing his thumb lazily in a soothing motion.

Sara closed her eyes at the sensation, recalling how Gil had sat for endless days keeping some part of himself in contact with her at all times, often repeating just such motions while holding her hand.

She pictured his face, and how he had never left her side in those days following her rescue until her release from Desert Palms.

She smiled softly at the memory of their homecoming.

Gil had been so cautious of their every step lest she suffer any additional pain.

He had been so focused on keeping her safe from harm that even poor Hank had kept his distance, cowering in the corner, after receiving a death glare from Grissom as they had crossed the threshold.

Now, upon reopening her eyes, the smile evaporated as Sara realized there were no gentle blue eyes attached to this display of concern.

She pulled her hand out of Robert's grasp, almost wanting to apologize as she noted the hurt briefly flash across his eyes.

If she had been a party to his recent phone conversation with Gil, however, an apology would have been the farthest thing from her mind...

------

Grissom's mind was going in circles.

Dropping his keys on to the table, he sat and absently ran his fingers through Hank's fur.

"Boy, do I need some sleep," he said aloud, sighing as he was reminded there was no one there to care.

His mind was going back over the last couple of days, trying to get his thoughts into some sort of order.

_The case was going, albeit slowly:_

_They had through reconstruction got a name of the guy who was currently the main suspect..._

_Brass was chasing him down, but the guy's wife seemed to have no idea where he may have gone..."Camping," she'd said..._

_Nick had found a video tape and they were searching for any kind of point of reference..._

_Hodges had been his usual self, but Langston had taken the developments in his stride..._

_and having finally gotten through to the campsite, some stupid guy had tried to tell him Sara had been "unavailable"..._

_he would try again just as soon as his eyes could focus..._

Silently, Gil slipped into sleep, then falling sideways on the couch.

Hank whined, snuffled his hand, then scrambled up to join him.

Grissom muttered, but moved to accommodate him...the buzzing of the phone failed to wake either of them.

--------

"Damn it, Gil! Answer your damned phone, will you?" Catherine cursed.

"He _never_ used to be like this...until recently," she commented to Ray Langston who stood to her side.

"We need him to take a look at this latest body with bugs, so we can get a time line as to where this guy fits into all this. We-" she started to say, then turned back to leave a message on the voice mail for Grissom.

"This is all futile. I'm gonna try something..I'll be back soon" Ray called over his shoulder as he hurried from the layout room.

--------

Meanwhile back at the Costa Rica main research head quarters, Sara now felt a deep-seated sadness overwhelm her at her memories having been so abruptly halted by the stark realization of another man trying to comfort and care for her.

Tears stung at her eyes, so she turned herself over and away from Robert's prying eyes.

Feeling the "butterfly bandaid" in place in the back of her hand holding a drip in place only added fuel to her emotions at the reference to the name given to the first aid strip.

In comparison to her past delight in and love of the insect that Gil had introduced and educated her in, she felt despair over the need for yet another hospital procedure.

Memories of other hospital stays and the events that surrounded them washed over her; but unlike those other times, there was no comforting words or soothing touches from Gil to ease her pain.

The silent tears finally broke free unhindered as she turned her face deeper into the pillow.

_Grissom..._

----------

Grissom woke to Hank's face snuffling into his.

"Okay, okay! I'm up!"

Rising stiffly off the couch, he mentally thanked Sara for insisting on a new one when they'd finally moved in together.

Letting Hank out to the small yard, he flicked on the coffee and checked his phone.

_Missed calls..uh oh... Catherine had been trying to call.._

_G_etting back to her about this case _was_ certainly a priority...but his _main_ focus remained trying to call Sara again.

He scrubbed his hands roughly over his face before reaching for his cell phone and leaning tiredly against the kitchen counter...

----------

Hours later, awoke to find herself alone in the infirmary room.

Before she had time to dwell on her previous thoughts, a movement at the door caused her head to whip around defensively.

The nurse came into Sara's room noting, but not mentioning, the tear-stained face that turned towards her.

"Hello! It's nice to see you finally awake," she spoke softly but with a genuine smile.

Sara returned a subdued nod, and began to turn away when the nurse's next statement stopped her movement.

"I have your young man on the phone...he is _insisting _he be allowed to talk with you," she said with a conspiratorial tone.

Speechless, Sara could only watch the nurse move towards the patient dresser, remove an old fashioned princess phone, and plug the jack into the wall outlet.

A slight tilt of the head, a broad smile, and an outstretched hand holding the receiver encouraged Sara to reach out hesitantly to accept this lifeline from her despair.

"Grissom?" Sara all but breathed out.

Gil's eyes drifted shut for a moment, willing his heart to stop pounding.

"Hi," was all he could muster at the moment, imagining her sleepy eyes as they used to rise and greet the new day while he snuggled closer to her in their blanketed cocoon where time had stood still whenever they were wrapped around each other.

The rush of feelings almost choked her at the warmth of his tone.

"Grissom,..I'm fine..._really..._just tired..."

After a pause, "I'm in Costa Rica," she said.

"Costa Rica?"Gil gave a short bark of laughter and wondered at the hand of fate.

"It's really beautiful here I'm told, when its not in the middle of a storm! And so many insects, all shapes and sizes...you'd _love_ it," her voice trailed off, hating that he might worry about her if he understood how desperately she missed him.

"Sara," he spoke softly, "I'm sure it's every thing you say, I just need to...." the beeping warned of an incoming call.

"I'm sorry, honey, but I have to take this. I will call you again as soon as possible..._I miss you_."

The dial tone echoed in her ear.

"Yeah...me too," she said softly, though her heart broke to know Gil was no longer there to hear it.

-----------

_Costa Rica!_

Grissom's thoughts raced back to the phone call from Frost...

The tiredness immediately left him.

_Was it possible?_

_I'm not getting any younger..._

That realization that made him take a long,hard look at his life.

_Was this really possible?_ he thought again.

This time, a smile transformed his thoughtful expression.

_Yes!_

He'd _make_ it so!

Reaching for his phone, he checked his call history for the number.

His fingers shook slightly as he dialed.

"Spencer Frost... Ah! Dr. Grissom!"...

-----------

Grisson sat in his home office, his mind still reeling from the conversation with Dr Frost.

He still had another 4hrs before his next shift...and there was much to be done.

Instead of calling Catherine, Grissom quickly gathered his briefcase, locked up the house, and got Hank in the car ready to drop him off at the sitter's.

Twenty minutes later, he strolled into the lab with a small knowing smirk on his face, as lab techs passed him in the corridor frowning.

Sometime later that day, it had rapidly gone around the lab that their enigmatic boss was working out his resignation notice, that his current case would be his very last.

Yet after all these years, none of them actually knew the guy who'd spent so much time in this place.

Hodges reckoned, even bragged at times, that indeed _he_ knew 'Gil', as he'd recently opted to call him; that he was his friend, confidant, and buddy. T

Techs and criminalists alike had all scoffed at this, but were now perplexed at how David seemed so upset and annoyed at being left out of being told the initial news officially by the man himself.

Having visited the personnel office, Gil dropped his stuff in his own office then sought out his team with a new found enthusiasm for life, for his future with Sara.

However right now, top of his agenda was hopefully finding Maureen Masters still alive, then finishing up the case so he could leave the lab, satisfied it was in capable hands.

As he made his way towards the layout room, he was met by Brass.

After giving Gil a quick update, he glanced across at him and asked," The sheriff wanted to know if you'd be willing to stay on?"

Noting the glare he received in reply, Jim just shrugged. "Asked and answered," he said as they separated.

"Okay what do we have?" Grissom looked round the room at his 'team' plus Langston as they began to bring everyone up to date with their findings.

"Well David has been waiting on you in the morgue with a bug infested body..." Catherine glanced at her watch, "...for the last six hours.

But if you'd bothered to _answer _your damned cell phone, you'd _know_ that Gil," she said irritatedly.

Grissom let out a sigh.

Her demeanor told him she was taking badly the news of his leaving.

They had worked together for a long time, and the last thing he wanted was to see her hurting.

"Cath....." he started to defend himself by relating all he had accomplished in those hours: a power nap, the call to Sara, accepting the invitation from Dr. Frost, tendering his resignation...

One look at the glare directed his way, and he decided not to press the issue.

He didn't want to argue with her.

But he knew they needed to make time to talk about his decision to join Sara.

Turning back to the case at hand, Grissom cleared his throat and continued.

"Brass filled me in on the latest arrests and findings. So did you get anything from the tapes?" Grissom asked as he looked up to the large computer monitor's frozen frame in front of him.

Nick spoke up and went on to expain the details of their findings from the haul of video tapes they'd found and viewed.

"So it looks like your theory was right, Ray, confirmed with Catherine and Henry's findings. Good call."

Grissom thought for a few minutes as the team gave him time to process. Straightening up, he made eye contact with them to signal he had formulated a plan.

"Okay. See if Archie can get us some good stills of the best shots of the cabin and work from there.

Greg check with Hodges on that trace you found on the shoe, it might narrow down our location.

Let me know of any results that come in that might be probative, I'll be down with David," he said leaving the layout room to go to his destination.

-----------

He worked alongside the Coroner's assistant, collecting bugs and sharing his knowledge by instinct, he was after all a teacher at heart.

"You're going to miss this," David said, looking across at him shyly.

Taking a moment, Grissom pondered the statement before replying.

"There are bugs everywhere, David."

Gil paused to really look at the emotions washing over the young man's face.

"But I _will _miss _you_," Gil added softly.

He was startled to see the effect his words had on the young man, and felt a sudden pang at the realization that he would indeed miss David, as much as the rest of his team.

But all of these wonderful people combined could get close to filling the gaping hole left by Sara's absence.

She filled up all the places no one else knew, or much less cared, about.

Miss these colleagues he would.

But at least with Sara, he would begin to feel _alive_ again.

-----------

The whole building shook almost with the force of the winds.

Loud clatters, bangs, and piercing metal grinding could be hear throughout the place as the storm lashed it fiercely.

Men and women rushed around, in and out of the rooms checking, making sure their attempts to secure them safely inside had been enough.

The sound plus the commotion had Sara rolled up in a fetal position under the covers of the bed, as she desperately fought to find sleep. T

The nurse had offered her a mild sedation, after she made sure Sara had eaten along with taking in plenty of fluids, but the pills were refused immediately.

The doctor had drawn blood and had gotten a urine sample off Sara to run some test to try to rule out any other possible causes for her black out.

The bump to her head had been assessed and deemed only a minor injury, but the dehydration followed by the hastily penned note from Robert of her vomiting in the field a few times in the last couple of weeks had the physician concerned.

Sara just wanted the incessant noise to stop, and for everything to go away - especially Robert, who'd come back and was hovering round her bed for hours.

Pulling her limbs in tighter to herself, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to pull Gil's soothing voice from the vault of her memory.

The storm's rage made that task impossible.

Sara pulled on the blanket more tightly.

She felt pretty miserable right now.

As happens with all storms, however, the end was in sight.

Eventually, blessed silence came..the storm had passed, leaving in it's wake destruction and chaos.

Sara had forced herself up and into the thick of the clean up, hoping to keep her mind and body occupied.

Somehow it seemed such a chore.

For the first time in a long while, she felt utterly drained, her initial enthusiasm for this mission had waned.

She longed to talk to Grissom, but as yet there was no contact with the outside world since the lines went dead almost directly after her last conversation with Gil.

Crews were still busily working on restoring communications lines.

Watching the bustle of activity around her, Sara zoned out as she wrapped her arms around herself as she stood to the side, wondering where he was right now, imagining what he was doing...

------

At that moment, Grissom was sitting at the table in his office, various papers and books strewn across the surface.

"Astronomy?" Nick's voice asked as he entered.

Gil looked at him over the rim of his glasses.

"I'm trying to gain a new perspective."

Nick nodded curiously, taking a seat and pouring over the materials in an attempt to catch on to Grissom's train of thought.

They sat going over the information he'd gathered.

"You know, I will never forget the things you taught me," Nick said quietly.

Grissom raised his head, and they locked gazes.

"You were always my best student, Nick," Grissom replied.

Yes, for a short while, Sara had been his student, but even at the very beginning she'd been so much more

Until in the end, she had become the teacher.

The thought brought a mellow smile to Grissom's face.

Nick and Gil locked gazes for a moment, before Nick grinned widely at the mental picture of how happy Sara was going to be to see Grissom and realize he finally was showing her she was "worth the risk".

The moment passed quickly, and the two men turned back to the task at hand, their motivation to conclude this case successfully having been kicked up another notch.

-----------

Sara stood silently taking in the scene before her.

In the wake of the torrential rains, every frond in the large tropical canopy glistened with the emerging sunlight.

The air felt oppressive, yet the moisture somehow made you feel alive.

Sara's fingers grasped the railing of the deck outside the medical tent.

Her thoughts were of Grissom.

For a moment, she indulged herself in the fantasy that if she peered down the path towards the bend in the high brush, he might magically appear.

Her heart raced in suffocating longing to see him, touch him, let him know by her barrage of kisses that she wanted no other home than with him.

So deep was Sara in thought that she did not observe Robert watching her.

She had become like a forbidden fruit for him, and here now, in the backdrop of this tropical forest, his weary mind and fatigued body were losing the battle with his desires.

Robert's thoughts were becoming more obsessive.

_If he really loved you, the kind of love you deserve, you would never have left him._

_He can't _really _love you Sara, not like I could love you._

_He isn't good enough for you._

_He let you go. I would _never _let you go_.

_You really don't belong with _him_, Sara._

_But _we _could be so happy together._

Sara was startled when large hands covered hers as she felt rather than heard a figure suddenly invading her personal space.

Turning her head to avoid the warmth of his breath against the side of her ear, Sara's heart pounded as she realized the others all seemed to have left to assess the damage to the relay station.

Her eyes closed as she felt his hand brush back her hair from behind her ear as Robert poured forth his emotions as he whispered, "I'm here, Sara. I'll take care of you."

With that, Sara felt herself being turned until she was face to face with Robert's unreadable expression.

Before another heartbeat passed, they were brought out of their moment by a distracting cry from inside the building, "Hey! phone lines are back on!"

"I need to make a call right away," Sara yelled out in reply, stepping quickly away from Robert.

A little shiver was shooting down her spine at the man's pure cheek of invading her personal space without invitation.

She rushed inside to see a few people already assembled waiting, obviously needing to use the only telephone in the building.

"Radio's not gonna be up and running for a few more hours yet. This is all we got," said one of the male research students Sara had spoken to before a few times.

"Get you a drink while we wait?" he asked with a genuine smile.

"Thank you, that would be really nice," Sara replied as she watched him take off to the kitchen area.

Felix was a great guy to have around, always helpful, caring, hard working and always eager to please those he considered his friends, but he and Robert seemed to rub each other up the wrong way, clashing at the slightest thing.

Plus Felix had made more than a few comments to Robert about his insistence on always being teamed Sara.

--------

Grissom concentrated on the busy highway en route to the college to review the tapes of the last video conference.

Something in that last round of interview had been nagging at Grissom.

He hoped that with their new leads, something would jump out at him to help him find the missing piece of their puzzle and allow him to wrap up the case and get to Sara.

At just that moment, his cell chimed.

"Grissom," he spoke in an agitated tone, not glancing at the caller ID.

He was tired, he was hungry, and he was missing his Sara.

At first, he thought this had to be a dream.

"Did I call at a bad time?" an almost nervous voice responded after the briefest delay.

"Sara," was all Gil could utter, his relief upon hearing her voice was palpable.

As the others in line waited as patiently as possible for their five minutes of talk time, Sara curled herself around the phone cord in an effort to secure the least bit of privacy.

She closed her eyes as Grissom spoke her name, his loving tone almost her undoing.

Before she could answer, however, her eyelids opened to spy the broad shoulders of Robert leaning against the door frame of the cabin - mere steps away from her position.

They locked eyes in a move that made Sara feel more than a little uncomfortable despite the proximity of the rest of those waiting to place a call.

"Gil," she breathed, barely forcing the sound past her lips which she unconsciously was burying into the mouthpiece in an effort to keep her words hidden from Robert's intrusive glare.

"Sara?" Gil inquired worriedly, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes. The storms passed over now and I'm okay...I just.....I miss you Gil" Sara said finishing on a long heartfelt sigh.

"Oh, honey, I miss you too." Gil replied in a tender low voice, as he pulled in at the college parking lot.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sara?" he asked worriedly.

He'd picked a hint of something up in her tone that made him think that not all was right with her.

"Yeah, I've just been a little under the weather recently....Nothing I can't handle," Sara added.

Gil still wasn't aware of any specifics of her having received medical attention for the bump to the head, dehydration, or the blood urine tests that were being run.

She hadn't wanted to worry him, nor had she mentiond Robert's unwanted advances towards her which were making her uncomfortable.

He had enough worries right now in dealing with the lab, the team after Warrick's death, her leaving him again, then trying to patch things up in their relationship after her attempt to set him free of obligation to her by means of that web cam message.

No, she'd decided, she wouldn't put added pressure on him by pushing him into a decision he'd later regret.

All she clung to was the hope that by his own volition he would make the decision to join her so that they could finally start their new life together.

"_Sa_ra..." Gil said in his 'Come on talk to me' tone.

"Really Gil. I'm fine. Right now, we're just trying to get the station back up and running to its status before the storm," she said reassuring him, as well as moving the conversation on to another subject.


End file.
